Hands-on science can look very different from one school to the next when materials, training, and support are not distributed consistently. That was one of the challenges Kara Klosterman faced while supporting a middle school science materials pilot across 13 sites and roughly 8,500 students in a large Oregon district.
Unfortunately, that problem is not unusual. AdoptAClassroom.org’s 2025 teacher survey found that 81% of teachers purchase supplies because they “want every student to have the same opportunities in the classroom.”
But with the right support, access to classroom materials can become more consistent and equitable across schools. In this case study, we’ll explore how Lab-Aids helped Kara bring more hands-on science instruction to middle school classrooms across her district.
“As a huge district, I was very worried about how to disperse supplies,” Kara explained. “Lab-Aids actually made that really easy because they had the kits already made.”
But that material challenge was only one part of the pilot process. Kara also had to think about training time, teacher readiness, and the realities of asking educators to implement unfamiliar instructional materials while keeping classrooms moving.
In Kara’s view, that was one of the places where the Lab-Aids pilot differed from other instructional experiences. The prepackaged kits reduced the logistical uncertainty that can come with hands-on science implementation across a large district.
During the pilot, Kara’s district had limited time to prepare teachers. The district allowed only three hours of training for each curriculum option, which meant teachers were entering the pilot with the same challenge many educators face during adoption: learning new materials, new routines, and new instructional expectations while continuing to teach every day.
To make the most of that limited time, Lab-Aids enlisted seasoned educators with curriculum experience to guide teachers through the activities, providing practical exposure to the same labs and equipment they would use with students.
When asked what made Lab-Aids stand out, Kara pointed to two details:
“[Lab-Aids] brought in real teachers who teach the curriculum as trainers” and “[Lab-Aids] also had organized equipment kits that came with good quality supplies.”
Those details mattered during the pilot. Teachers had organized materials they could use right away, along with support from educators who understood the realities of classroom implementation.
Kara also noted that Lab-Aids remained responsive as questions came up. “The response time to troubleshoot is really, really brief,” she said. “We’ve been really happy with customer service during our pilot and with our adoption.”
As teachers began using Lab-Aids, Kara noticed a shift in how science instruction looked across the district. Students were not just reading about science concepts or watching demonstrations; they were using equipment, working in groups, and engaging in activities.
“I walk into classrooms now and see kids doing science,” Kara said. “They’re using science equipment, and they’re working in teams.”
In a large district, hands-on science can vary widely from school to school depending on available supplies, teacher experience, and building-level resources. Lab-Aids helped create a more common foundation. Teachers were working from the same materials, using the same kits, and moving through the same instructional structure.
The shared materials also made it easier for teachers to work together. If one teacher ran into a problem, others knew the activity, the supplies, and the point in the unit. That made it easier to compare notes, solve small issues, and keep the work moving across schools.
For Kara, the bigger benefit was consistency. Before the adoption, some schools had well-equipped labs, while others lacked basic equipment. The Lab-Aids kits helped give each school a more reliable starting point for hands-on science. “Having uniform, well-stocked kits has a huge impact on equity across schools,” Kara said. “It has evened the playing field.”
After the pilot, students were studying the impact of building in an imaginary town called Boomtown in a unit called Land, Water, and Human Interactions. For Kara’s teachers, that issue-based structure created an opportunity to make the learning more local. “The teachers immediately said, ‘Let’s do this for Salem,’” Kara explained. “Why are we using this imaginary town?”
From there, Kara’s district began collaborating with the City of Salem to connect the unit to real places students could recognize. “They built us storm drain maps for all of our school sites, topo maps,” Kara said. “So they just took the unit that’s already there and said, ‘Yeah, this is Boomtown, but let’s look at our school.’”
This type of issue-based structure gave teachers a way to bring the investigation off the page and into real life. “We’re working with the city to actually do water quality testing on nearby streams,” Kara said.
That was where the issue-based approach became especially valuable. “It allows teachers to use a scripted curriculum and still creatively meet the needs of their students and make it relevant,” Kara said. “Issue-based learning allows teachers the flexibility to build local connections without straying from the structure of the curriculum.”
One of Kara’s biggest takeaways from the Lab-Aids experience was that the organized kits, common materials, and clear instructional sequence helped teachers stay on the same path. At the same time, the issue-based design gave them room to connect science to their own schools.
“The organized structure of Lab-Aids has been very helpful,” Kara said. “As teachers become familiar with it and start to enhance it with local phenomena, the structure is what holds everything in place.”
That structure also supported collaboration across the district. “Time is saved through collaboration,” Kara noted. “Common supplies equal collaboration, and collaboration equals common troubleshooting.”
For Kara’s district, Lab-Aids helped create a more consistent foundation for hands-on science across 13 sites, while still giving teachers room to make learning local, relevant, and meaningful.
Contact a curriculum specialist to learn more about the difference Lab-Aids can make for your school or district.
About Lab-Aids:
Lab-Aids is a premier educational publisher that combines high quality materials with efficacy-driven instruction to create exceptional long-term value. With a focus on student engagement and connection to real-world applications, Lab-Aids offers a range of science and math instructional materials for secondary classrooms.
About SEPUP:
The Science Education for Public Understanding Program (SEPUP) develops guided-inquiry science curricula that foster critical thinking and the use of scientific evidence in public decision-making. Housed at the Lawrence Hall of Science, University of California, Berkeley, SEPUP integrates societal issues into science learning, making science meaningful and relevant for students.
Our Partnerships:
Our development partners are leaders in their fields, bringing cutting-edge research and innovative teaching practices to every Lab-Aids program. These collaborations ensure that our curricula are deeply relevant, engaging, and effective in preparing students to navigate and contribute to a rapidly changing world.